The new booster vaccines to protect against severe COVID-19 have been authorized for use, and they come with the bonus of extra protection against the omicron variants that have been infecting people for months.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer BioNTech and Moderna boosters on Aug. 31 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention followed with approval the following day.
They're called bivalent vaccines because they target two strains of the virus, the original, which all previous vaccines have protected against, and the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5.
Cincinnati.com checked with local experts on COVID-19 boosters, including Carl Fichtenbaum, MD, of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at the UC College of Medicine.
